Janie Crawford returns to Eatonville after long period of
absence. The townspeople gossip as they Janie thinking that the young man she
ran off with has left her. Janie confides in her friend Pheoby as to what
really happened. We soon come to learn about the three men in Janie’s life and
how she never gave up in looking for true love.
My thoughts on the audiobook and the book itself:
When I first tried to read the book in print, I was
struggling with the Southern black dialect that dominated the telling of the
story. I found myself too busy trying to sound out the words in my head instead
of paying attention to the story. After the third time in re-reading the first
chapter, I decided to listen to the audio instead because I really wanted to
know what the book was about.
Ruby Dee reads Their Eyes Were Watching God and she did an
excellent job in portraying the characters and making the story flow together.
I was able to understand what she was saying and was able to focus more on the
story than the Southern words. I’m really glad I opted to listen to the audio
because it’s a beautiful story.
Janie is a strong woman who knows what she wants. She is
married off to an old man for her own protection but leaves him in search of
love. Janie soon becomes Mrs. Joe Starks and helps him build Eatonville and
help Joe become mayor. Unfortunately, Joe tries to control her and make her
very submissive. After his death, Janie runs off with a much younger man named
Tea Cakes and she finally finds love.
I really liked how the book is able to portray major
emotions: pain, happiness, love, and loss. I felt so much sympathy for Janie
yet I admired her tremendously how she overcame her hardships.
I give it 4 stars
My thoughts on the TV movie:
This movie stars Halle Berry, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and
Michael Ealy. Halle plays the strong willed Janie and does a very good job
along with the other cast. The sets and costumes were right on the time period
and the cinematography was beautiful. I really enjoyed watching the scenes
where Janie dives into the water to “free” herself.
The feelings of love, pain, and loss are portrayed well. The
scenes between Janie and Tea Cakes was sizzling and the scene of spousal abuse
was heart wrenching.
As the movie alone, I give it 4 stars.
My thoughts on book-to-movie adaptation:
It’s very rare when movies stay true to the book so my hopes
are not too high when seeing these kinds of movies. The TV movie was more of a
romance story and kind of ignored the racism, sexism, and violence against
women.
I rate the adaptation 3 stars because it missed major themes
from the book.
Stopping by to let you know I've nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. I hope you like it!
ReplyDeleteHelene @ Helene's World of Books